1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to miniatures, and more particularly to a system for converting a printable sheet of heat-shrinkable synthetic plastic film material into a custom-made miniature having an image thereon of a selected individual.
2. Status of Prior Art
In the field of fine arts, a miniature generally refers to a diminutive portrait of an individual, usually executed in a precise style so that despite the small scale of the portrait, the features of the individual are sharply defined. In colonial America, such great artists as C. W. Peale and Copley were notable exponents of this art. Miniatures have also been executed in oil on copper plate in baked enamel. For a miniature to be viewed, it must be handled, and it is therefore desirable to create a miniature on a substrate that can survive repeated handling.
Long before the invention of photography, it was the common practice for ladies of fashion to carry a locket suspended from a neck chain, the locket encasing a painted miniature of an individual for whom the wearer had a strong affection. The art of painting miniatures, which goes back many centuries, is no longer practical to any significant degree, for if one wishes a miniature of a loved one, this could be produced by optically-reducing a large photograph of the individual to the scale of a microfilm frame.
Yet in a sense, the art of producing miniatures survives in a form which exhibits the shrink characteristics of certain heat-sensitive synthetic plastic film materials. Thus a high popular craft toy is known as SHRINKY DINKS. A craft toy for children is one that requires the child to exercise some degree of manual or artistic skill in playing with the toy. Hence craft toys have educational as well as entertainment value.
In a SHRINKY DINKS craft toy, the child is provided with a sheet of heat-shrinkable, plastic film material on whose face is printed in black and white the outline of a character. The term "character," which ordinarily refers to a person in the cast of a drama or novel, in the field of toys and playthings is applied to a humanoid or animal-like figure that originated in a comic strip, a motion picture or a TV program, and has since acquired the status of a recognized personality. Thus Garfield, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are internationally known characters, as are the fanciful figures who populate the Sesame Street TV series for children.
In SHRINKY DINKS, the character whose contours are printed on the shrinkable plastic sheet is colored in by the child, using colored pencils or other means for this purpose, so that the resultant colored image represents the child's version of the character. Then the colored plastic sheet is placed in a tray that is inserted in an oven heated to an elevated temperature.
In the oven, the sheet of film material is subjected to an elevated temperature for a period of about 5 minutes. As the sheet is baked, it proceeds to twist and curl and then flatten out. The shrunken sheet of film material, which is now relatively thick, is then removed from the oven and permitted to cool and cure, preferably under the pressure of a flat piece of cardboard to maintain the form in a flat state. The resultant form is therefore a miniature of the character.
In the SHRINKY DINKS craft toy, the user is provided with a set of shrinkable sheets each having one or more different characters printed thereon, so that the user is able to produce a collection of miniatures.
The main drawback of a SHRINKY DINKS craft toy or a similar toy that makes use of a shrinkable plastic film sheet, is that the resultant miniatures are impersonal in the sense that they bear no relation to the particular child who creates them. The character whose image appears on the miniature is one chosen by the manufacturer of the toy who is licensed to reproduce the character by its owner, say, the Walt Disney Corporation.
Hence while in the past a person seeking to acquire a miniature of himself or of a loved one, would engage an artist to paint this miniature, with a SHRINKY DINKS toy, the child can only create miniatures of characters supplied to him by the manufacturer, not of himself or of an individual close to him, such as a parent, brother or sister.